The Last of Us Part 1 has launched for PC, however, players are reporting errors and issues with the game like shader compilation crashes, Caching Failed error, in-game crashes, D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_12_0 error at startup, low FPS, stuttering, Windows 10 version 1909 required error, and more. Here I will help you fix the errors and issues you are experiencing with The Last Of Us Part 1.
Last Of Us Part 1 Crash Fixes You Can Try
One can’t understate the impact Last Of Us had on the gaming industry. We’ve seen a faithful live-action adaptation of the game in the form of a TV series. The Last Of Us Part 1 is the remake of 2013 original and the anticipation behind the PC release was quite high. However, the PC version Of TLOU Part 1 disappointed PC players at launch with errors and issues like shader compilation crashes, Caching Failed error, in-game crashes, D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_12_0 error at startup, low FPS, stuttering, Windows 10 version 1909 required error, and more. The following are the errors that PC players are experiencing with the game along with their fixes and workarounds.
D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_12_0 Fix
The Last Of Us Part 1 PC players report that they are unable to play the game as they experience the D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_12_0 error at launch and here is how to fix it.
Install Nvidia Driver Version 522.25
Players have reported that installing the Nvidia driver version 522.25 fixes the D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_12_0 in The Last Of Us Part 1. While installing, make sure to do a clean installation so that previous driver settings won’t interfere with the installed driver.
Shaders Compilation, Performance Fix
TLOU Part 1 PC players report severe performance issues like low FPS and stuttering and also report long shader compilation times. Here is how you can fix these issues.
Install Oodle Decompression Library 2.9.5
Apparently, the devs shipped the game with the wrong version of Oodle Decompression Library at launch. According to PC users, the game is using version 2.9.6 version of Oodle Decompression Library, and installing version 2.9.5 fixes the performance and shader compilation issues. Download the 2.9.5 version of Oodle Decompression Library, which is a .dll file. Copy the .dll file and right-click TLOU Part 1 in Steam library > Manage > Browse Lcoal files. A new explorer window will open with the game files, paste the .dll file and replace the file when the Windows prompt appears. Launch The Last Of Us and the game will have better performance and the shader compilation will be much better.
Nvidia Control Panel Tweaks
Players can make some tweaks to the Nvidia Control Panel settings, specific to TLOU, and might see a boost in performance. Open Nvidia Control Panel > Manager 3D Settings > Program Settings > select The Last Of Us and make the following changes.
Anti-aliasing-Gamma Correction – Off
Antialiasing Mode – Application Controlled
Antialiasing Transparency – Off
CUDA GPUs – All
Low Latency Mode – Ultra
Power Management – Prefer Maximum Performance
Shader Cache – On only if you are using an HDD. You don’t need to enable it for an SSD.
Texture filtering – Quality – High Performance
Threaded Optimization – Off
Triple Buffering – Off
Apply these changes and you will see a boost in performance and the stuttering will be fixed.
Caching Failed Fix
PC players are experiencing the Caching Failed error when the game tries to build a shader cache and here is how to fix the error.
Increase Virtual Memory
Increasing Virtual memory fixes the Caching Failed error in The Last Of Us Part 1. Open Windows Settings > About > Advanced System Settings > click “Settings” under Performance > go to the Advanced tab in Performance Options > click on “Change” under Virtual memory > uncheck “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives” > select the drive with at least 32 GB available space > check the Custom size option. Input ‘16,384’ for the Initial size and ‘32,768’ for the Maximum size and press OK. Restart your PC, launch TLOU Part 1 and it’ll build the shader cache without the Caching Failed error.
Windows 10 version 1909 Or Higher Is Required Fix
The Last Of Us Part 1 PC players cannot play the game as they experience the “Windows 10 version 1909 or higher is required” error at startup and here is how to fix it. First, ensure your Win 10 version is up-to-date by checking to for updates.
Enabling compatibility mode for the Steam executable can cause this error. Right-click the Steam desktop shortcut > select “Open File Location” > a new window will open with Steam installation > right-click Steam executable > properties > Compatibility tab > uncheck “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” and apply changes. This will fix the “Windows 10 version 1909 or higher is required” error with TLOU.
Shader Compilation Crash, Crash Fix
The Last Of Us Part 1 PC players are experiencing in-game crashes and crashes while compiling shaders and there are multiple reasons why these crashes occur. The following are the TLOU crash fixes.
Note: Nvidia has acknowledged that TLOU Part 1 randomly crashes for RTX 30 series GPUs. If you are using an RTX 30 GPU, that might be the reason behind in-game crashes. In this case, you have to wait for a hotfix from Nvidia or the game to be patched.
Install Nvidia Driver Version 522.25
PC players report that installing the Nvidia driver version 522.25 fixes the in-game crashes in The Last Of Us Part 1. make sure you do a clean installation.
Increase Virtual Memory
PC players report that increasing the Virtual Memory fixes in-game crashes in The Last Of Us Part 1. Open Windows Settings > About > Advanced System Settings > click “Settings” under Performance > go to the Advanced tab in Performance Options > click on “Change” under Virtual memory > uncheck “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives” > select the drive with at least 32 GB available space > check the Custom size option. Input ‘16,384’ for the Initial size and ‘32,768’ for the Maximum size and press OK. Restart your PC, launch The Last Of Us Part 1, and it won’t crash while compiling shaders and or in-game.
Lower Graphics Settings
VRAM usage is another cause for The Last Of Us Part 1 in-game crashes. Lower the graphics settings, especially the Texture Quality setting to lower the VRAM usage and the game will stop crashing.
Make An Exception In Your Anti-virus
If you have installed a third-party anti-virus like Avast, it might be blocking a game file which is causing TLOU Part 1 to crash. Players have reported that allowing a certain game file through the anti-virus fixes the Last Of Us crashes. Right-click The Last Of Us Part 1 in Steam library > Manage > Browse Local Files. A new window will open with game files. Locate the ‘crs-handler.exe’ file and note the directory. Open your anti-virus and exclude or allow this particular file and The Last Of Us will stop crashing.
That is all for our The Last Of Us Part 1 fixes for errors and issues like in-game crash, shade compilation crash, Windows 10 version 1909 or higher is required error, D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_12_0, and more. If you are facing errors and issues with other PC games or your PC, then also see our hub for commonly occurring PC errors and their fixes.